(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden declared Tuesday "there is no doubt" that the Syrian government is responsible for alleged chemical weapons use and that he has been in touch with foreign leaders as the U.S. contemplates a military response.

"There is no doubt that an essential international norm has been violated," he said in Houston at the American Legion National Convention. "No one doubts that innocent men women and children have been the victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria and there is no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria: the Syrian regime."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - A top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee urged the Obama administration against taking unilateral military action in Syria, in part because of how it would look in the international community.

Sen. Jack Reed said Monday on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" that unilateral action would be "a mistake" and that with a coalition the "political pressure would be sufficient" to pressure the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad. Potential partners could include Great Britain, France and Turkey, he said.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama recognized a soldier's struggles on and off the battlefield when he presented the Medal of Honor on Monday.

Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter received the top combat valor medal for demonstrating "the urge to serve others at whatever cost," Obama said, when his combat station in Afghanistan came under attack.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama spent much of his birthday weekend away from the White House but was briefed about the terror threat that prompted embassy closings and heightened military readiness across the Middle East and North Africa.

On Sunday afternoon, he returned to Washington from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where he had flown Saturday afternoon after golfing with close friends earlier in the day. Obama turned 52 Sunday.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - A ban on the sale of some Apple products - including iPhones and iPads - will not go into effect after President Barack Obama’s administration stepped in Saturday, a day before the prohibition was to go into effect.

Ambassador Michael Froman, the U.S. trade representative, overturned a June decision of the U.S. International Trade Commission – which, according to its website, is an “independent, quasijudicial federal agency” that investigates trade issues - that certain Apple products designed for the AT&T network could not be imported to or sold in the United States.FULL POST